County Judge

ARTICLES ABOUT COUNTY JUDGE BY DATE - PAGE 4

Orange County -- Gov. Charlie Crist appointed Heather Higbee to be an Orange County judge, the Governor's Office announced Tuesday. Higbee, 42, of Orlando is filling the bench left by Judge C. Jeffery Arnold, who was appointed to be an Orange-Osceola Circuit Court judge. Since 1999, Higbee has been president of her own firm. She started her career as a volunteer intern with the State Attorney's Office in Gainesville. She served as prosecutor in the 8th Judicial Circuit and was a statewide prosecutor with the Office of the Attorney General.

Orange County -- Gov. Charlie Crist has appointed Orange County Judge C. Jeffery Arnold to fill the 9th Circuit Court seat left vacant by a retiring judge, the governor's office says. Arnold will replace Circuit Court Judge William C. Gridley, who retired Jan. 3. Arnold became a county judge in 1995. He served in criminal and civil county court over the years and helped organize the Orange County Collection Court. Circuit judges serve six-year terms and oversee divorces, felony cases and civil suits involving more than $15,000.

ORANGE COUNTY---Gov. Charlie Crist appointed Orange County Judge C. Jeffery Arnold to fill the 9th Circuit Court seat left by a retiring judge, the Governor's Office announced Thursday. Arnold will replace Circuit Court Judge William C. Gridley, who resigned Jan. 3. Arnold first became a county judge in 1995. He served in criminal and civil county court over the years. He helped organize the Orange County Collection Court. Circuit judges serve six-year terms and oversee divorces, felony criminal cases and civil suits involving more than $15,000.

Tallahassee -- The Florida Supreme Court dismissed on Tuesday an investigation of a former Volusia County judge because the judge has resigned. The high court closed the case against Steven J. deLaroche, who resigned from the bench in February amid accusations he fixed traffic tickets for his father-in-law, the daughter of a former client and a local attorney, and then lied about it. Before becoming a judge, deLaroche had worked as an attorney in private...

Ormond Beach -- An Ormond Beach woman was acquitted Thursday of disorderly conduct when she bared her breasts in July 2005 in a political protest. Liz Book, the self-proclaimed "top-free" revolutionary, has now won two court cases from charges trying to stop her ongoing effort to allow women to go topless. Volusia County Judge David B. Beck found Book not guilty of the misdemeanor at a non-jury trial Thursday. In a prior case, a county judge dismissed a charge that she violated Daytona Beach's anti-nudity ordinance.

Daytona Beach -- Volusia County Judge H. Pope Hamrick Jr. is retiring at the end of this month from an 18-year career on the bench. Hamrick, 67, currently hears civil cases at the Volusia County Courthouse Annex at City Island in Daytona Beach. Before his first election to the bench in 1988, Hamrick was an assistant city attorney for Daytona Beach, associate municipal judge for Daytona Beach, and an assistant public defender and a general master for the 7th Judicial Circuit. In addition to his 37 years in public service, he also had a private law practice and worked with the firm of Kinsey, Vincent and Pyle.

KISSIMMEE -- With nearly all the votes counted, veteran prosecutor Hal Epperson Jr. held a comfortable lead over Al Torres late Tuesday for a new seat on the Osceola County Court bench. Epperson, 40, had almost 55 percent of the vote to just more than 45 percent for Torres. Epperson resigned from the State Attorney's Office to make his first run for elected office. He campaigned as a crime fighter who took on methamphetamine makers and championed the rights of seniors. He did not return phone calls seeking comment Tuesday night.

Daytona Beach -- A 9-year-old girl who was sent to a juvenile-detention facility for reportedly kicking and slapping her teacher for the fourth time in 10 days, made her first appearance before a Volusia County judge on Saturday. The girl was arrested Thursday on a felony charge of battery of a School Board employee. A Volusia County sheriff's spokesman said deputies had no choice but to arrest the girl because her mother would not pick her up and they could not leave her at the school.

Elected county commissioner in 1982, Jim Swan helped guide Osceola County for 12 years, watching the population double during that time. He was a key figure during a remarkable growth period in Osceola's history. Now, more than a decade since he left office, the county is poised for a huge growth spurt once again. The impact will be significant. Mr. Swan wants to help Osceola's largest city handle that growth responsibly. He is running for mayor of Kissimmee in Tuesday's election, and he comes well-equipped to handle the job. As a commissioner, Mr. Swan was an outspoken advocate for the environment and for good growth management.

Voters will decide Nov. 7 who will take the bench as an Orange-Osceola Circuit Court judge and an Orange County judge. The race to replace retiring Circuit Court Judge Richard Conrad attracted three candidates in September's primary. The top two vote-getters -- Jenifer Davis, 41, and Mary Ann Etzler, 50 -- are vying in the Group 5 runoff. Voters in Orange and Osceola counties will decide the winner. A circuit judge serves a six-year term and oversees divorces, felony criminal cases and civil suits involving more than $15,000.